PAGE TWO He who does not know the force of words, cannot know men To every generation have been born men who were marked by destiny with a clairvoyance of thought which far surpassed that of their common fellowmen. They have been few, and most of their ideas inconsequential—not because their ideas have lacked power, but because they have been treated indifferently by the intellectually indolent masses. They have been the greatest lovers of humanity, and fhe bitter invective of some concerning mankind has no doubt been a result of their frustration in visualizing the noble potentialities of man yet being forced to witness his abject failure. They have reacted in different ways in fulfilling the dictates of their intellects in trying to make common men see the pathway to intrinsic human fulfillment. Their examples and ideas, however, have been buried by sheer weight of the common men who rejected them. Emerson commented brilliantly on the stagnation of the gregarious instincts and sameness of human social habits when he said: “Imitation cannot rise above its own model. The imitator condemns himself to a life of hopeless mediocrity.” The uncommon men have been individuals in a world of hopeless conformity. As profound a thinker and humanitarian as Albert Schweitzer when confronted with the question of hope for humanity replied that his knowledge of mankind left no room for anything but utter pessimism, but that his hope was always optimistic. Apparently, his observations as an objective witness of his fellowmen only increased in his mind the realization of man’s inhumanity to man. It is this realization of man’s failure which prompted Philip Wylie’s explosive Generation of Vipers. Whoever will question the fact that man has been failing need only consider the comedy of errors presented by history. If this does not convince him, let him look around for a moment and explain why uncommon men have been running away from common men—great men called Albert Einstein and Thomas Mann. There can be no doubt that the time has come for honest self-ap praisal and examination—more so now than ever before—because we are tottering on the brink of self-destruction. To people with that orientation who imagine that the “right”approach to any problem must involve optimism, this introspection may prove to be a shock. No real improvements have ever been made without a rigorous criticism of what .existed, and what men like Philip Wylie are trying to point out is that downright pessimism in this day and age may be a thousand times more fruitful in establishing national improvement than all the compulsive optimism the public can work up. He has merely exposed what most men and women secretly knew about themselves long ago—that they were slaves of instinct, slaves of the herd, slaves of superstition, slaves of magical gadgets, and the testing ground of every mass folly perpetrated by the cunning exploiters of mankind from time immemorial. This pariah of sameness which includes all the dangers of strict con formity, apathy, and the lack of individualism must be expunged if it is not already too late. Man must approach himself with the detached and sincere passion he has, up to now, applied to the world of things. He must give as much energy to his soul as he does to his job. The importance of these things has been recognized by the uncommon men. We can still realize Utopia and inherit the earth if we put to use that very large percentage of still dormant intellectual prowess inherent In common men. If man’s greatest and most distinguishing gift is his God-given intellect, then failure to exercise his intellect is the greatest impiety he can commit and, possibly, the one for which he will be held most responsible. Highacres “HAZLETON CAMPUS’ OWN NEWSPAPER” Published by the Journalism Club of the Hazleton Campus of the Pennsylvania State University, Hazleton, Pennsylvania Editor Associate Editor .... News Editor Sports Editor Art Editor Circulation Manager Business Manager . REPORTERS Betty Ann Acri, Jay Birt, Robert Krutsick, Lois Lombardo, Jim Marcolina, William Morgan/ Richard Swank, Sally Switaj Photographer William Slattery Faculty Advisor Professor Andrew Kafka Uncommon Men By 808 PETRAS HIGHACRES COLLEGIAN —Confucius Collegian Paul Miller ... Grace Ramaize .. Levi Kishbaugh ... Howard Keiper Randy Allen Rose Marie Carey .. Fred Matthews Words are feminine; deeds are masculine • —Baltasar Gracian Perhaps the most interesting discovery in the aftermath of World War II was the fact that there was not one single Atheist found among the many scientists and technicians who conceived, developed, and tested this country’s first atomic bomb. Not one, among the thousands of skilled people who brought the first nuclear weapon from the drawing board to Hiroshima, was found to be without a belief in some Higher Being. Indeed, the reasoning behind this seemingly unusual fact is really quite apparent to the majority of scientists and engineers today. As man progresses through his study of higher education, it becomes quite evident to him that he can never hope to learn all there is to know. For every new concept that he masters, no matter how complicated or complex it may be, another new concept is unveiled which preceded the one he has just mastered. Everything goes back to something before itself, and this goes on as far as the mind can visualize. It is this endless chain of cause and effect that ultimately convinces the well-educated mind that somewhere there must be a beginning. If this is true, then a Creator, Infinitely Wise, Infinitely Perfect, therefore an Omniscient Being, must exist Who brought everything else into existence and Who also established the laws which govern the universe and every last molecule in it. Why does the sun, the ultimate source of all energy, seem to rise every morning in the east, proceed across the sky and dip below the horizon in the west in the evening? Is it just some natural phenomenon that occurs as a chance or random happening? Perhaps, you may say. Yet, is it also pure chance that all the planets in our solar system re volve about the sun in a definite, predictable orbit, or is it more logically the work of some Master Craftsman Who planned many eons ago that it should be this way ? For as many light years away as man can now see with his most powerful telescopes, for as many new galaxies as he uncovers, for every one of these he finds nothing but precise geometric order present in the universe. However, it is not necessary to look any farther than our everyday lives to see manifestations of order and design. Chemistry has shown us that all matter is composed of three basic particles called protons, electrons and neutrons. Consider, for a moment, a world filled with the three basic particles each in itself a separate entity. About all that is possible for each particle to do of itself is to exert a repelling action on each other particle of the same type. For anything to exist, some outside force must initiate its construction. Where this force acting on the particles of matter originates may be an external source or it may be an inherent property of the particle itself. What is important is the realization of its presence. Now, under the influence of this invisible, yet ever-present force, we see a simple combination of a proton and an electron to form a hydrogen atom. Still other protons unite with neutrons in a more complex fashion to form nuclei of different atoms and attract a proportional number of electrons to their orbits. Today, we have uncovered slightly over one hundred such atoms which comprise the basic elements of chemistry. Further combinations of atoms with other atoms yield thousands of kinds of molecules which further synthesize into the multitude of objects we can see. Thus, it seems much more than pure chance or accident that there exists in the outer ring of every copper atom an excess electron to readily conduct an electric current, or that the distillation of water always yields two hydrogen and one oxygen atom, or any of the thousands of chemical reactions of various substances which we know from empirical observation will always produce the same results. Furthermore, spectroscopic analysis of light received from other planets indicates the presence of the same type of atoms found on earth. Our free, thinking forefathers recognized that where order does not exist, chaos does. Now, in these times of global crises where each new dawn brings with it the threat of a nuclear holocaust to end civilization, it seems more urgent than ever for man to recognize the need for or derly cooperation among the world’s scientists in a joint effort to unlock the secrets of the universe. For as much as we think we know now, we have as yet barely scratched the surface of understanding. It could in deed be a wonderful step toward world betterment if the nations of the earth, instead of building up forces to destroy each other, were to pool their resources in unlocking the myriad of mysteries in our universe. For once man has attained the realization of the limits of human power and the limitlessness of the power of the Almighty, he can better understand his proper place in the world and his own purpose for living. j BECOME AN ENTERTAINING STAR J J Participate in The J ¥ HIGHACRES DRAMATIC ★ l READING FESTIVAL } Logical Faith By FRANK J. PARANO MARCH 3, 1961
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers